villa

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.

Copyright The Columbia University Press

villa: Although used to designate any country residence, especially in Italy and S France, the term villa particularly refers to a type of pleasure residence with extensive grounds favored by the Romans and richly developed in Italy in the Renaissance. The Roman villa of the empire is described in several contemporary literary accounts and particularly by Pliny. Favored locations were at Tivoli near Rome and along the shores of the Bay of Naples. The dwelling quarters, consisting of several low buildings, included recreation facilities and lodgings for the servants. The farmhouse type (villa rustica) had barns, orchards, and vineyards, and the type used as a pleasure retreat (villa urbana) had formal gardens adorned with fountains and sculptures. The luxurious villa of Emperor Hadrian near Tivoli, of which extensive ruins remain, is said to have covered more than 7 sq mi (18 sq km); many works of art were exhumed there during the Renaissance. In the late 15th cent. the classic villas, rediscovered along with the rest of the Roman past, furnished the Renaissance nobles with patterns for pleasure estates of their own, e.g., the Villa Madama, Rome, designed by Raphael and the many villas built by Palladio in N Italy. Many of these villas had hillside locations, which called forth the fullest ingenuity of the garden designers. Their pictorial compositions blended with the variable elements of nature the formal qualities of the house, the incidental garden architecture, and the fountains. Baroque villas displayed the most fanciful variety of garden frivolities—grotesque sculptures, grottoes lined with rock and shell decorations, fantastic water displays, and ingenious transitions between different levels. Isola Bella on Lake Maggiore is a striking example. Among the finest villas are the Farnesina; the Villa d'Este at Tivoli; the Villa Farnese at Caprarola by Vignola; the Borghese Villa; and the Villa Doria Pamphili.

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villa

villa.1.Antique Roman country-house or farmstead of three basic types:villa rustica: house in the country with spacious accommodation for the owner and his family, and quarters for staff and workers, stores, and animals (the latter called villa fructuaria). It was really a grand farmhouse with refinements;villa suburbana: house near a town, lacking service buildings (e.g. Palladio's Villa Capra, Vicenza (c.1566–70));villa urbana: essentially a retreat, with spacious rooms, access to agreeable gardens, fine views over the landscape and the sea (if possible), galleries, and parts suitable for summer and winter use. Pliny's villas were paradigms of this type, which contained all the conveniences, and more, of a town or city mansion.

2.Renaissance country-house that was almost a cultural centre, where the like-minded could enjoy civilized life in beautiful surroundings, with fine gardens, works of art, and pleasant views. Palladio's designs for villas were important exemplars for C18, and led to the creation of some grand country-houses, e.g. Kent's Holkham Hall, Norfolk, and Paine and Adam's Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire.

3. Detached C19 house set in its own grounds on the fringes of a town, often with outbuildings and wings.

4. Small detached house in a modest garden in the suburbs in the late C19 and C20.

villa

vil·la / ˈvilə/ • n. (esp. in continental Europe) a large and luxurious country residence. ∎ a large country house of Roman times, having an estate and consisting of farm and residential buildings arranged around a courtyard. ∎ Brit. a detached or semidetached house in a residential district, typically one that is Victorian or Edwardian in style.

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villa

villa Large country house of the Roman Empire and post-Roman period. In ancient Rome, they were the private residences of important citizens. They had spacious reception rooms, often with mosaic floors and sometimes even underfloor heating. Since then the term has been used to describe detached houses in a huge variety of sizes and styles.

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villa

villa country residence, orig. one with farm buildings, etc. XVII; residence in the suburbs of a town or in a residential district XVIII. Partly — L. vīlla country house, farm; partly — It. villa :- L. vīlla. So village — (O)F.:- coll. deriv. of L. vīlla.

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